Walter s



(No Model.)

W. S. ADAMS. FOLDING GATE FOR GAR PLATFORMS.

No. 507,092. Patented Oct. 24, 1893.

MMEMM.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER S. ADAMS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGN OR TO JOHN A.BRILL, QF SAME PLACE.

FOLDING GATE FOR CAR-PLATFORMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 507,092, dated October24, 1893. Application filed July 15, 1893. Serial No. 480,568- (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER S. ADAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFolding Gates for (Jar-Platforms, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention has relatidn to the lazy-tong form of folding and extensiongates adapted for use upon street and. other car platforms; and it hasfor its objects, besides that of economy, lightness of structure,strength and durability, the additional feature of being adapted for useupon car platforms where the inner part of the steps leading to theplatform extends to some distance within the skin of the car, the gatebeing adapted to close the platform and prevent ingress or egresstherefrom at the side upon which the gate is located, and when closed tobe swung up against the side of the car and be out of the way so as notto interfere with ingress or egress of the passengers to or from theplatform of the car.

My invention accordingly consistsof the particular structure andcombinations hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out inthe claims.

In the drawings-Figure 1 isa front elevation of a portion of a car andits platform showing the gate extended or opened, and in position toprevent egress from the platform at that side of the car; and Fig. 2, aplan view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a side elevation of a portion of the carplatform and step showing the gate in its folded position ready to beswung against the side of the car as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2;Fig. 4, a side elevation partly in section of the detached parts of thegate in their interior structure; and Fig. 5, an enlarged view,detached, of the hook-plate and the engaging link for holding the gatein its folded position against the side of the car as shown in Fig. 2.

Similar numerals of reference refer to like parts throughout the severalviews.

The gate comprises aseries of levers united in lazy-tong fashion, ofwhich 1, 2 and 3 are the outer main diagonals and 4, 5'and 6 the innermain diagonals, all of which are pivotally secured together, orinterfulcrumed, by suitable pins or bolts.

The upper portion of the gate is secured to its sustaining rods or postsin a manner that will permit of the collapse of the members of the gate,the point of support of the upper portion of the gate being fixed, thelower, vibrational.

The posts are shown at 7 and 8, the stationary post 7 being supported inits upper portion by means of a bracket 8 having an eye 9, through whichthe post 8 passes, the bracket 8 being secured to the car 10. From thepost 7, at the upper portion thereof, extends a fixed lug 11. The lowerportion of the post 7 passes through an aperture in the step 12 leadingfrom the platform 13 (the step being hung by the side plates 12) and issupported so as to swing in its bearings (which are thebrackets 8 andthe step 12) by means of a sleeve 13 fast to the post 7. The outer orswing post 14, to which the outer portion of the upper end of the gateis secured, carries thereon a cap 15 fast thereto, from which extends alug 16. At any desirable point on the length of the posts 7 and 8 arefixedly secured small trunnions 17 and 18 to which are pivotally securedlinks 19, 20. These links support the levers of the gate so that theentire system of levers forming the gate can be moved up or down. Theouter main diagonals 1, 2, 3 are supported at the top by the short link21 and are connected with the bottom of the inner diagonal 6 by thelever 22, and ashort link or half lever 23 connects the bottom of thelever 1 with the post 7, and a cross lever 24 unites the inner diagonal4 with the link 19. The link 20 is connected with the inner diagonal; bythe short lever 25, and the outer diagonal 1 is connected to the link 20by means of the diagonal 26. To the fixed lug on the post 7 is securedthe short lever 27 which is secured to the upper portion of the innerdiagonal 6, and the inner diagonal 5 is connected at the top to thecross lever 28 which is in turn fulcrumed at 29 to another cross lever30 which in its turn is fulcrumed to the lower portion of the outerdiagonal 2. In the same way the outer diagonal 2 is connected tothe'inner diagonal 5 by means of the two half diagonals 30, 31,fulcrumed together at 32, and the fixed lug 11 is connected with one ofthe outer diagonals, as 3, by the diagonal 33 in the same manner as thefixed lug 16 is secured to the inner diagonal 6.

Each and every lever forming part of the collapsible or extensibleportion of the gate is interfulcrumed, that is to say, fulcrumed uponthemselves.

The upper portion of the series of levers is pivotally secured to fixedlugs which are in turn secured to the supporting posts at both sides,and at the bottom to links pivotally secured in a fixed position uponthe same supporting posts, so that the collapse or extension of thelevers of the gate can be had without causing the supporting points ofthe lower portion of the gate to move upon the side posts. This Iconsider to be a marked improvement over the old mode of causing thesesupporting points to take the shape of sleeves which ride up and downupon the supporting posts.

Another important feature of this construction lies in the mode ofconnecting the lovers together, and in the connection of the levers atthe top and bottom of the gate.

By reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the gate is primarilysupported at the top upon the inner and outer diagonals 3 and 6, andthus by means of short links 21, 27 pivotally secured upon the fixedlugs 11 and 16. This results in a much higher and stiifer gate thancould be had were the main diagonals hung directly from the fixed lugsor pivot points 11 and 16 instead of being pivotally supported upon theshort levers 21, 27, which also strengthens the union of the levers,while the diagonals 22, 33 serve to suspend the other non-enumeratedlevers of the series direetly' from the same pivotal points. FurthermoreI am enabled to include into thesystem a greater number of levers, bywhich I get a greater extension of the gate, and thereby close a, widerpassageway without sacrificing or increasing any of the space allowedfor the gate when folded as shown in Fig. 3.

To secure the gate in either the extended or collapsed position I havefixed to the post 8 a sleeve 34, to which is secured a link 35, and thislink is adapted to be passed over the stud 36 shown in dotted lines inFig. 2, which stud is formed upon the top of the dasher post 37 upon thebu flier beam 38, to which the dasher 40 and hand rail 39 are secured,the hand rail being supported upon the dasher 40 by the posts 41 in theusual way.

The position of the gate, while extended to close the passageway to theplatform, and prevent ingress or egress from the step 12 to the platform13, is shown in Fig. 2, and in that figure is also shown the position ofthe gate when folded as shown in Fig. 3, and swung inwardly to preventthe platform and step being used. While in this position it is kept fromswinging outwardly again and extending itself, by means of a pin or stud41 carried by the stud plate 42, which is'secured to any convenient partof the car 10, as shown in Fig. 2. To this stud the link 35 is securedby passing it overthe same, as shown in Fig. 5.

The posts 7, 8 need not of necessity be any longer than a trifle morethan the distance between the upper and lower pivotal point of the gate,and instead of supporting the lower portion of the post 7 in the sleeve13 upon the step 12 it can be supported in a bracket (similar to 8)which can be fixed to the step side plates, thus saving the cost of theextra length of metal for the posts, and making the structure lighter.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. In a folding gate, thecombination with two posts, one pivotally set in a fixed position, theother movable, of a series of interfulcrumed levers pivotally secured toboth posts at the top, and below to the side posts by linkedconnections, said links having a fixed point of movement upon saidposts, substantially as described.

2. In a folding gate the combination with two posts, one of which ismounted to rotate in bearings about a fixed point, the other post beingmovable to,or'from,or about said point, and aseries of interfulcrumedlvers pivotally secured to both posts by suitable linked connections,some of the levers being directly connected to the posts by short links,whereby the total height of the gate is greater thanthe distance betweenits pivotal support upon the posts, substantially as described.

3. The combination in a folding gate of two posts, one movable in bearings in a fixed point, the other movable to, from or about the other post,upper supporting lugs 11 and 16, and lower supporting links 19 and 20,and main diagonals connected together with the upper fixed lugs andlower swinging links by levers having a shorter radius of movement thanthe main levers, substantially as described.

4. The combination in a folding gate, of the post 7 pivotally supportedin bearings, and

the post 8 adapted to move to, from and about the post 7, the maindiagonals 1, 2, 3 interfulcru med with the main diagonals 4, 5, 6, thelugs 11, 16 fixedly secured to the posts 7 and 8, the short levers 21,27connecting the outer main diagonal 3 with the post 8 and the innerdiagonal 6 with the. post 7, secondary levers 22, 33 pivotally securedto the lugs 11, 16 and hanging the main levers from the top of both ofthe side posts, and a swinging link connection between the lower portionof the series of levers and the posts 7, 8, said swinging links makingan articulated union of the system of lovers with said posts,substantially as described.

5. The combination with the post 7 supported in proper bearings, and thepost 8, with a series of interfulcrumed levers having a direct fulcrumto the upper portions of both posts, and an articulated and fulcrumedconnection to the same posts below the first named fulcral points,substantially as described.

6. The combination with the posts 7 set to rotate in bearings, and theposts 8, and the main levers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, of the levers 28, 30, 3031 interfulcrumed with the main levers and fulcrumed to each other inpairs, the swinging links 19, 20 secured to the posts 7, 8, the fixedlugs 11 and 16 likewise secured to the posts above the swinging links,and short levers 21,27, 23,25 connecting the main levers with the fixedlugs 11 and 16 and swinging links 19, 20, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the post 7set to move in suitable bearings, thepost 8, the main levers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, fixed lugs 11 and 16 on theupper portions of said post connected with the main levers by the shortlevers 21, 27, swinging links 19, 20 secured to the post below the fixedlugs 11, 16,a lever 26 extending between the upper portion of the mainleverl and the swinging link 20, another central lever 24 extendingbetween the upper portion of the main lever 4 and the swinging link 19,and short levers 23, 25 extending between the swinging links 19 and 20,all the levers being interfulcrurned, substantially as described.

Signed at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, this 30 13th day of July, 1893.

WALTER S. ADAMS.

Witnesses:

HENRY O. ESLING, CHARLES MCQUILKIN.

